Towards the end of last year I told myself that I would have kegging equipment by the end of 2013. I figured giving myself a year would be plenty of time to get all the equipment and would also give me time to hunt for the best prices. Well, thanks to my tax return I was able to get it sooner than I had planned!

I found a 5 cubic foot chest freezer on Craigslist for $40 and purchased all the kegging equipment, including the 2 used ball-lock kegs, from my local homebrew store. Got a call yesterday from them saying that the kegs finally arrived, so I stopped by to pick them up.

I had 2 batches of beer (a stout and a petite saison) ready to keg, so when I got home I quickly got down to sanitizing the kegs and transferring the beer over. Had some small issues with CO2 leaks, but tracked them down, tightened everything up, and it’s now sitting happy in the keezer. Now to wait for the beers to carb up (not going with a quick carb method, just the set and wait for these beers).

Just finished up another excellent brew day. Brewed up a batch of the Chocolate Milk Stout by Northern Brewer. It looks quite good and I can’t wait to try it. It should be ready in about 2 months. Attached are some pictures I took during the brew process. Ingredients and the like.

Was a pretty uneventful brew day overall, quite pleased with that. Shows that my process is getting more refined.

-Borbosha

Well, Memorial Day Weekend is over and a great break from the grind, but now I am back at it and swinging hard.

The beers turned out amazing, though a bit over carbonated from the trip up there. Had to pour them slowly or I got nothing but head. I think the Surly Furious was my favorite, but everyone else seemed to enjoy the Honey Weizen more, go figure.

The weekend itself turned out amazing. Had great company and decent weather, though it was very windy for the first couple days. The high fire danger in the area also made it a bit more stressful than years past as we had to be extra careful with the fire when we were able to have it (once the wind died down). But even with the small handful of not-so-great aspects of the weekend, it was still one of my favorite years so far, especially getting to break in the new tent.

The new tent is HUGE. I swear it could almost fit my car inside. It is rated as an 8-person, 2-room instant tent and it lives up to that and more. We were able to fit 3 air mattresses in the tent and still have plenty of room to move around. I would say we could fit 10-12 people pretty easily if we don’t use the air mattresses. It also only took about 5 minutes to setup and take down. Seeing as how this was the first time using the tent I have to say, that’s pretty damn good!

So yeah, overall it was a great weekend with great friends, family and beer. Who could ask for a better Memorial Day Weekend?

And to all the veterans, alive or dead… thank you for all that you have and continue to do for this country that allows people like me to have such amazing weekends. You are true heroes.

-Cheers.

Borbosha

I love brew day! The amazing aromas coming from the kitchen, filling the house will the smell of hops and boiling wort, and the enjoyment of making my very own tasty beer!

Yesterday I spent my evening brewing up my next batch of beer. This was another extract recipe, a custom made beer kit from my homebrew store (Stomp Them Grapes), that was designed to clone a Fat Tire from New Belgium Brewing.

The recipe was simple. It included only 5 different specialty grains, 6.5 lbs of LME, and 2 different types of hops, but the smell and taste were amazing. The fermentation started after about 2 hours and was going strong by the next morning. The color has lightened quite a bit and the airlock is very active. I can’t wait until it is ready to drink.

-Borbosha